World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index
WHO-5 is a five-item well-being self-report from the World Health Organization. In this catalogue it sits with obesity-medicine workflows. It is not a depression diagnosis.
Overview
What is the WHO-5?
WHO-5 asks how often, over the last two weeks, the person felt cheerful, calm, active, rested and interested in daily life. It is not PHQ-9, not a suicide-risk tool, and not a treatment plan.
Development and clinical use
The WHO-5 was developed in the 1990s by Per Bech at the Psychiatric Centre North Zealand. In 2024 WHO republished it as an open-access product, the original English edition WHO/UCN/MSD/MHE/2024.1.
- Catalogue status
- Educational entry
- Production scoring
- Not independently verified
- Mode
- self-report
- Typical use
- Clinician-reviewed intake
- Clinical role
- Well-being screening support
Administration
A focused client experience
WHO-5 is completed as a focused self-report and stored for clinician review. This public page does not collect answers or return a score.
- One question at a time with visible progress
- Large keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and answer-review steps
- Clear confirmation that results go to the clinic
The illustration shows layout only. It does not reproduce WHO-5 item wording.
Report showcase
Designed to make evidence easy to review
The downloadable synthetic example illustrates report layout using invented response patterns, without patient data or instrument questions.
- Named instrument, version, and provenance
- Item-level response pattern without source wording
- Methodology, references, and clinical boundary
- Responsible clinician review rather than automated conclusions
Clinician review required
Methodology
Understand the measure and its scoring conventions
Each item is rated from 5 (all of the time) to 0 (at no time), and the raw score is the total from 0 to 25. WHO suggests a raw score below 13 as a cut-off for poor mental well-being and an indication for further assessment. Multiplying the raw score by four gives the WHO percentage score.
References
- WHO-5 original English editionWorld Health Organization. The World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024. WHO/UCN/MSD/MHE/2024.1.
- WHO-5 reviewTopp CW et al. The WHO-5 Well-Being Index: a systematic review of the literature. Psychother Psychosom. 2015;84(3):167-176.
Questions
What clinics ask before they evaluate the WHO-5
These answers stay inside educational catalogue scope. They do not replace official manuals or clinician judgement.
Does WHO-5 diagnose depression?
No. It is a well-being index. Diagnosis remains a clinician task.
Can I complete WHO-5 here?
No. This page does not collect answers.
Why is WHO-5 listed under obesity medicine?
It can sit in obesity-clinic intake as well-being context. It does not replace depression screens chosen by the clinic.
What does a raw score below 13 mean?
WHO suggests it as a cut-off for poor mental well-being and an indication for further assessment. It is not a diagnosis.